One More Day with You
by MadBlossomingPrincess
Summary: When Mana has one wish, what is it that she would wish for? And would that wish ever be granted, or will something better come along?


MBP: Don't ask... really, don't ask where this came from... pure randomness right here... sorry for any weirdness in advance!

Rini: Hope you enjoy!

Kio: MBP owns nothing!

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_**One More Day with You**_

Mana clutched the pendant she'd gotten from Isis' shop, wondering what she was supposed to do with it. She may have been the sister of, and the friend of, some very obsessed occult fanatics, but she wasn't too crazy about it herself. Sure, she liked it, and she dabbled in a few spells, but she wasn't too much of a fanatic.

So, when Isis had given her a wish pendant, and completely free of charge, Mana had been confused. For one, Isis never gave anything away for free. Not that she was a money-grubber, but she had a lot of stuff to pay for, not to mention fix up the rat-hole that she called a home. And two, Mana just had no idea what to wish for.

Mana may have seemed ditzy, or shallow, or even a semi-selfish idiot, but she wasn't really. She was just really hyper, and liked to have fun, even if she got in trouble for it half the time. And because she was really happy with her life at the moment, she didn't have anything to wish for. Except...

She sighed, glancing at the picture on her desk. In it was herself, of course, hugging a tanned boy with crazily spiked hair, his eyes closed in either irritation, or just plain shock. She was laughing happily, holding onto her best guy friend in the entire world.

Mana plopped her head on her pillow, still looking at the picture. She'd known Atemu since her brother, Mahado, had been moved to Domino City for his job when she was only six years old. Atemu, three years her senior, had often been forced to be her playmate since his grandfather became her permanent babysitter. She'd gotten so close to the entire family that it seemed like she'd really become a part of it, even though Atemu never really let her forget she was an outsider there.

Really, Mana had gotten close to him, but he'd never been happy when she called his grandfather, "Gramps", or when she called Yugi her surrogate brother.

Of course, then she ruined the whole family aspect of it when she fell head-over-heels in love with Atemu during middle school and never quite found her way out of love.

Which brought her to her current issue of her wish pendant. The only thing she'd ever want would be Atemu to love her back, but... could she really be happy if he only loved her because her wish forced him to?

Plus... he was probably in love with some Egyptian beauty by now. Mana scowled to herself, scolding herself for being hurt that he'd like someone else when she never told him how she felt. She really should have told him years ago, before he started dating, before he decided to leave the country for college, before... well, before she got too scared to even try!

Letters. That's all she got nowadays. Her best guy friend had deemed her worthy of only receiving letters. Not even a phone call so she could hear his voice and make sure someone hadn't kidnapped him and was writing the letters so that no one would freak out here in Japan!

Yes, Mana knew she had an overactive imagination. What about it?

Anyways, Mana read the letters. She read them religiously, and had the majority of them memorized by the end of the day that she received them. And all they talked about was how wonderful college was, and which girl had approached him, and how he was going to stay in Egypt after college and find a job on an excavation site!

Mana didn't like that last idea. It sounded suspiciously like she'd never see him unless she went to Egypt herself, and she couldn't ever go there for college... not unless she had some fortune hidden somewhere, like Yugi! Of course, Yugi used his hidden fortune that he got for defeating Pegasus at Duel Monsters to send his brother off to Egypt for the rest of his life!

Mana made a vow not to talk to Yugi for a month. She managed a week, until Yugi happened to bring up to Tea that Atemu had called him the night before. And then Tea said that Atemu called her, and Joey, and everyone else. She felt totally left out and decided to ignore Atemu, which was hard since he wasn't there to ignore!

But this didn't help her with what she was using this stupid wish pendant for.

What she wanted to wish, what she wanted the most with every particle of her being, was that Atemu loved her the way she loved him. But she couldn't do it... she couldn't do that to him. She couldn't force him to love her, because then... it would never be real.

Finally realizing what it was she was wishing for, she put the pendant in a safe spot and reached for the newest letter from Atemu.

Sighing again to herself, Mana opened Atemu's latest letter. It was one of his shortest, not even a page. Mana referred to it as a note, something not even worth sending since it didn't contain lots of words and news that he actually existed instead of a crazy kidnapper who was masquerading as his victims.

**Dear Mana,**

**Just wanted to send you a note telling you to write back! Honestly, you promised you would, and I've been here for months and I've gotten one letter from you! I may like it here in Egypt, but I want to hear what it's like in Japan for you! So reply!**

**Atemu**

**P.S: Stay away from Bakura. He's not good for you.**

And end note. Mana didn't like it at all. He was wrong on so many little things. 1) She never promised to write back. She promised that she'd keep in touch. Which probably included writing back, but still! 2) He didn't like it there in Egypt. From the way he put things in his ten-page, okay 7-page, letters, he LOVED it there in Egypt! Why would he care about poor Mana's high school adventures in Domino City?

And 3) How dare he? How dare he tell her who she needed to stay away from? Just for that she should go hang out with Bakura!

Mana scowled, crumpling up the note furiously and throwing it against her wall. But she couldn't even hang out with Bakura, because she was too in love with the most dense, idiotic boy in the whole world who couldn't see that she was in love with him! And because she loved him, she couldn't get the heart to go after another guy.

Of course, considering she'd probably never see the love of her life ever again, there couldn't be any harm in sending him a letter, right?

Mana bit her lip, hesitating before she pounced at her desk for some paper and a pen.

**Atemu,**

**Jeez, bossy much? I have been busy, we can't all be college students! Remember high school? I'm still there, and it's worse than you remember! Trust me on that.**

**Anyways, what's ever going on in Domino? Duel Monsters Tournament that Yugi won (of course, his... well, you know... multiple personality disorder resurfaced). That was the extent of the fun stuff here.**

**Isis went crazy and gave me something for free. Gasp! I know, never happens! Anyways, it's a wish pendant!**

**And you know what I realized suddenly today, Mr. I'm-Staying-in-Egypt? I will probably never see you again for the rest of my life, because I'm gone on your breaks, you're in Egypt on my breaks, and I'll never have the money to go out there! So I can tell you something and the worse I'll have to fear is that you'll stop writing about how you're leaving all of us for good and you're having so much fun away from us.**

**I wished for something totally crazy. And I mean, really crazy. Because, you know, the whole never-going-to-see-you thing... **

**I wished I could have one more day with you. Just one more day with you to say what I want to, one more time to just be with you. One more sunset picnic that we always had when we were younger. So, yeah... that was it... just one more day for us.**

**But, it's impossible, right? So... don't worry about it! **

**~Mana~**

_Three Months Later_

"Mana, hurry up! You're going to make us late!" Amane called up the stairs, wearing her newest purple dress. Her long hair was braided down to her knees, about the bottom of the dress.

"I'll be down in a minute!" Mana jumped down the stairs the best she could in the white Grecian style dress she was wearing. Her hair flowed behind her in a casual mess as she twirled. "How do I look?"

"It looks good," Kisara said, straightening the long bluish-silver dress she chose to wear for the dance Miho decided to drag them to.

"How's Miho look?" Miho twirled in a circle, the short green dress spinning with her, faster and faster until she got dizzy. "Miho dizzy!"

Mana laughed the loudest out of the rest of them, being the only loud one capable of laughing without falling over. "Ryou will take one look and fall for you!" Mana predicted, grabbing her bag, grinning back at her friend. "Mahado, I'm going!"

"Where?" Came the expected question.

Mana sighed. "Mahado, I told you about this dance two weeks ago! You know, the dance that Miho's taking us to!"

"Be home by..."

"By nine, I know!" Mana overexaggerated her exasperation and grinned at her brother. "I'll be fine. I promise." She darted over and kissed her brother on the cheek gently, smiling happily.

"Bye Mahado!" The girls chorused, some quietly and accompanied by bows, and some loudly as they dashed out the door excitedly.

Miho immediately left them as soon as they got to Seto's for the party, off to look for Ryou, and probably end up tormenting... er, entertaining him... for the rest of the night. The girls rolled their eyes good naturedly and walked down the staircase to get to the actual party.

Almost as soon as they'd descended the stairs, Seto came to claim Kisara for a dance. Amane and Mana looked at each other knowingly, already having realized Seto's almost unrecognizable crush on their shy friend. Mana had made it a game to tease him about it without actually having Kisara find out about it. Amane was a good opponent for this game, especially since she had her brother to help her come up with evil dastardly plots to do so.

"So, what are the odds my brother will come to claim a dance?" Amane asked Mana as they wandered to the refreshments table, their normal haunt whenever they got dragged to these parties.

"You know... Atemu told me to stay away from your brother," Mana murmured quietly, thinking back to the last letter that Atemu had sent to her.

Amane nodded, and let the subject drop, knowing how much it made her normally happy-go-lucky friend turn into a quiet, unhappy person. "Do you think Seto got any good sushi this time?"

"If not, I will barge over there and interrupt his dance with Kisara!" Mana giggled, back into her happy mood again. "And then he'll be all mad, and I can tease him about it!"

Amane giggled with her friend, blushing when she saw Marik walk by, apparently not even noticing them. Mana smirked mischievously at her suddenly shy friend.

"Go ask him to dance with you!" Mana prodded, poking Amane in the ribs.

"N-no, can you imagine what Bakura would do?" Amane whispered, trying to make herself shrink, just in case Marik happened to look their way.

Mana couldn't stand her friend not telling Marik how she felt. From her own first-hand experience, it normally wasn't a good thing. She turned away from Amane and towards Marik, who was hanging out behind them a little longer than necessary. "Hey Marik!"

Amane squeaked, literally squeaked, when Marik turned to them and walked over. "What is it Mana?" He asked, his attention really on the quiet white-haired girl behind her.

"Amane wants to dance, and you're right here. Dance with her!" Mana ordered, stepping aside and forcing Amane forward. "Now."

"I-I'm sure Marik's..."

"Sure, I'll do it." Marik took Amane's hand and took her rather easily to the dance floor, leaving Mana alone.

She observed the dancing silently, smiling as Miho twirled by with Ryou, laughing as Miho, quite deliberately, fell into Ryou, leaving the boy as red as a tomato.

"What are you doing here alone?" Mana turned to find Bakura behind her, and grinned. She may have been told to stay away from him, but that was hard since his sister was her best friend, and he was funny.

"My friends have all gotten dances!" Bakura's eyes narrowed at her easy reply.

"Amane included?"

"Yep!" Mana grinned, indicating to the dance floor. "She's out there somewhere. Don't worry, I'm sure she'd perfectly safe!"

Bakura's eyebrows raised and Mana giggled at his expression. He was normally so evil and sadistic... it was hilarious to see him so overprotective of his younger sister!

"You think so?" Mana nodded at Bakura's question. "Was it you who got Marik to dance with her?"

"Yep! Are you going to kill me?" Mana asked, acting overly serious. "After all, I sent your sweet, innocent sister into the hands of the big bad wolf." Bakura laughed, and Mana joined in. She knew that he wouldn't get mad at her, and that he'd probably just go after Marik after the party to get revenge. It certainly helped to be female sometimes, especially when you're the female friend of his beloved sister.

"You, no. Marik, maybe." Mana's suspicions were confirmed. Dead Marik, safe Amane... a normal day in the Bakura household. "You going to dance?"

"Um... I..."

"She's not dancing with you." Mana knew that voice. She must be delusional. The owner of said voice should be in another country, doing something college-like. "Now back off."

Bakura glared at the boy, and Mana still hadn't turned around to see if it really was who she thought it was. She really hoped it wasn't, because they hadn't actually had any correspondence since she'd sent that letter telling him what her wish was. "I think that's up to her."

"And I think you should stay away from my girlfriend." Now Mana turned, only to be dragged away from the dancing and into the cool air. Atemu watched her, his eyes unreadable and hidden.

"W-what are you doing here?" Mana asked, eyes wide open in shock. She hit herself mentally. He'd been gone for so long and you can't even form a better first sentence to say to him?

"It's a party. Seto's my friend too, why wouldn't I be here?"

"You're supposed to be in Egypt!" Mana cried out, loud and distressed to his calm and quiet tones. "And... and..." Her anger grew as she remembered what had just happened in the dance room. "And what were you thinking, getting between me and Bakura like that? Can't I have friends now? And since when do you call me your girlfriend?"

"Not him," Atemu returned, ignoring her last question and earning himself a glare from Mana.

"And why not him?" Mana sent back, hands on hips. "He's funny, and I actually like him, you know! And contrary to your beliefs, he's not that bad! He can actually be kind of nice sometimes!"

"So you like him more than me?" Atemu asked, stepping closer to her, something Mana didn't notice right away.

"No, I didn't say that! Why do I have to like one of you more than the other?" Mana growled, glaring at the boy she'd called her best friend. "Can't I just have two guy friends that I'm close to? Is it because I can actually be close to Bakura, since you don't write anymore, and you never bothered to call me like you did everyone else?"

Atemu grabbed her hands before she could storm away from him and she tried to kick at him unsuccessfully. "I didn't write because what I wanted to say couldn't be said in a letter or on the phone!"

"I don't care! Just go back to Egypt and let me get on with my life!" Mana yelled in his face, fighting back tears.

"I'm not going back to Egypt! I turned down the offer of a job!"

Mana froze and stared at the boy incredulously for a moment before exploding. "Are you crazy? What the hell are you thinking? That's your dream, so go follow it!"

"Bit of a 180, don't you think?" Atemu murmured, gaining a glare as Mana tried once more to get away. Atemu merely shifted so that her hands were now held more securely.

"Do you remember what your wish was?" Atemu asked her quietly, stilling her protests and releasing the tears she'd fought back so hard.

"How could I forget?" She sniffled, letting the tears run down her face. "I wanted that more than almost anything... actually, I kind of wanted it more than I'd ever wanted anything... why does it matter?"

"Because..." Atemu kneeled in front of her and held his hands to his lips. "If I told you I wanted to give you more than just one day, I need to know if you'd be willing to take it."

"What?" Mana must have heard wrong. She couldn't have just heard that...

"You said you wished for one more day with me," Atemu murmured quietly, kissing her hands lightly. "I want to give you more than that."

"Why?" Mana whispered, heart beating madly in her chest. "Why would you?"

"Because..." Atemu stood and tipped her chin to look at him. "I didn't realize how much I loved you until I left. Until I thought I lost you for good."

"But you kept talking about how much you loved Egypt!" Mana protested, trying to get back to reality. But this fantasy was so nice...

"Would you have believed me if I told you that I hated it there and all I wanted was to see you smile?" Atemu asked, and Mana didn't even have to think. She wouldn't have. She'd have thought it a really, really, really bad joke and probably would have gone off on him.

"No..." Mana muttered, avoiding his eyes shamefaced.

"See? How could I possibly tell you?" Atemu tried to get her to look at him, gentle and patient.

"You could have called..." Mana took the last defense she had, only to be defeated.

"Why would I tell the girl I loved how I felt over a phone?"

Mana thought of something else. "Wait, so when would you have told me? We'd never have seen each other!"

"I... didn't really think of that..." Atemu admitted, looking ashamed of himself. Mana took pity on him and smiled.

"Well... I wouldn't object to getting more than one day," Mana said, her grin growing as Atemu smiled back at her. "So... how about a dance?"

"I've got a better idea," Atemu replied, waving an arm to show her that the sun was setting. "Want to have a picnic?"

"A sunset picnic?" Mana asked, her grin now so bright that it rivaled the sun. She tugged on Atemu's arm impatiently, holding onto him just as much as he held onto her as she gave her answer.

"It sounds perfect!"

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MBP: Like I said... don't ask what came over me... I found the song "One More Day with You" after like... YEARS of not hearing it, but where I heard it didn't have who it was by and I forgot when I was listening to it on YouTube so... whoever wrote and sang it gets credit for inspiring this!

Rini: Uh... yeah, crazy MBP again. Hope you enjoyed!

MBP: I'm not crazy!

Kio: Hope you liked it! Please review! Review! Review!

MBP: Rini, did you give him caffiene?

Rini: No! Kio, calm down!

Kio: *maniacal laughter* Jaa nee!


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